Nicopolis.

Julian Pe acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness ; riod, 4764.

2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, Vulgar Æra, 53. promised before the world began;

Tim.i, 1–3. with Titus i. 4,5; 1 Tim. i. 4. with Tit. i. 14; 1 Tim.
iv. 12. with Tit. ii. 7-15; and I Tim. iii. 2-4. with TA. 1.6–8.

Titus was a Greek, and one of Paul's early converts, who at-
tended him and Barnabas to the first council of Jerusalem, A.D.
49. and afterwards on bis ensuing circuit. (Gal. ii. 1-3. Acts
XV. 2.)

During St. Paul's stay at Corinth for a year and a hals, the first time, about A.D. 51, and A.D. 52, it is most likely that he made a voyage to the island of Crete, in order to preach the Gospel there, and took with bim Titus as an assistant, whom he left behind him, to regulate the concerns of that Church. (Tit. i. 5.) Shortly after his return, probably to Corinth, he wrote this letter of instructions to Titus, how to conduct himself in his epis. copal office, with directions to come back to him at Nicopolis, where he meant to winter. (Tit. iii. 12.) The superscription supposes that this was “ Nicopolis, a city of Macedonia," but this is certainly a mistake, for by this is meant, Nicopolis on the river Nessus, in Thrace, built by the Emperor Trajan, after this period. Further, St. Paul, when he wrote, was just return. cd from a voyage, therefore the city must have been not far from the sea ; hence it could not have been Nicopolis ad Hæmum, or ad Istrum, though so imagined by Theophylact. Still less the Nicopolis in Armenia, or any other in the middle of Asia Minor. Neither might it be the Nicopolis in Egypt, near Alexandria. His residence in that case would have been probably in Alexandria itself. The most celebrated city of this name lay in Epirus, opposite the promontory of Actium, and was built by Augustus, on his victory over Anthony. This appears to be the Nicopolis here intended.

The Acts are, indeed, equally silent on St. Paul's visit to Nicopolis; and many have supposed that both events took place after the close of that history ; but the time between his first and second imprisonment at Rome scarcely admits of it.

It is certain that St. Paul made many voyages before the close of the history of the Acts, when Luke was not with him, and which he has not recorded, as 2 Cor. xi. 25. an epistle written soon after his departure from Ephesus, (Acts xx. 1.). It is probable that this Epistle to Titus was written before that second Epistle to the Corinthians.

St. Paul spent a year and a half at Corinth, (Acts xviii. 11.) and three years at Ephesus. If we are hence to suppose, that four years and a balf were devoted to those two cities alone, the assertion (2 Cor. xi. 25.) is irreconcileable with St. Luke's narrative. But, that the apostle did make an excursion during this interval, and returned to Corinth, appears from 2 Cor. xii. 14. xiii. 1. where he terms the third time, wbat we usually call his second visit. If, then, St. Paul's vovage to Crete was from Corintb, the Nicopolis, where he passed the winter, and expected Titus, was certainly that in Epirus. It is true, that in returning from Crete Epirus lay out of his way, but he might have been driven there by a storm; and perhaps suffered one of the three shipwrecks he has mentioned. In this case he would have passed the winter in that city, and preached the Gospel," as he says, (Rom. xv. 19.) “round about unto Illyricnm," previous to his coming to Corinth the second time, when he wrote the Epistle to the Romans.

That Apollos took part in the conversion of the Cretans agrees

ST. PAUL'S SALUTATION TO TITUS-CHAP. XII.

273 Julian Pe- 8 But hath in due times manifested his word through Nicopolis. Fjod, 4766. preaching, which is committed unto me, according to the Vulgar , 53.

commandment of God our Saviour;

with this hypothesis, for Apollos appears to have come from
Ephesus to Corinth, before St. Paul left that city. (Acts xviii.
24. xix. 1.) It is most probable, therefore, that St. Paul's voy-
age to Crete, his stay in Nicopolis, and his Epistle to Titus, all
belong to this period. The two other opinions, and the objec-
tions to them, may be seen in Michaelis.

This opinion of Michaelis, says Dr. Hales, is much more pro-
bable than the period assigned by Lardner, namely, during
Paul's second visit to Greece; or the latest, by Paley (follow-
ing the Bible chronology), during Paul's third visit, between
the time of his leaving Rome the first time, until his return and
martyrdom there. For the second circuit is described so parti.
cularly in the Acts, that there does not seem to be time or place
for this voyage, and wintering at Nicopolis, and still less in the
last circuit, as we may collect from the incidental account of it
in the second Epistle to Timothy, written by Paul during his
second imprisonment at Rome, shortly before his death.

Hence there is no date so controverted as that of this Epis-
tle, according to the different hypotheses of St. Paul's voyage to
Crete. Michaelis reckons, that " in the chronological arrange-
ment of St. Paul's Epistles, it should be placed between the
second Epistle to the Thessalonians, (A.D. 52.) and the first
Epistle to the Corinthians, (A.D. 57.) Accordingly it is here
dated about the autumn of A.D. 53, supposing that Paul adher-
ed to his intention of wintering that year at Nicopolis, whence
he might have visited the regions of Epirus, Dalmatia, &c. bor-
dering on Illyricum, which he notices, Rom. xv. 19. They are
unnoticed in the Acts, and may therefore best be assigned to
this early part of Paul's ministry, when there is full room for
them.

Lardner dates this Epistle A.D. 56; Barrington, A.D. 57;
Whitby, Pearson, Paley, and the Bible Chronology, A.D. 65.

Lardner, as usual, states his opinion with diffidence-" It
appears to me," he obserres, very probably that at this time
Paul was in Illyricum and Crete, but I cannot digest the order
of his journies, since St. Luke has not related them.” (Vol. vi.
p: 287.) And Michaelis has well described the gradual change of
his opinion from the received till the last, in which he rested.
“ In the first edition of the introduction," he observes, “ I de-
scribed the Epistle to Titus as written after St. Paul's impri-
sonment at Rome. In the second edition I wavered in this pi-
nion. When I published the third edition, I thought it highly
probable that the Epistle was written long before St. Paul's
voyage as a prisoner to Italy (when he only touched at Crete,
and the centurion rejected the advice of wintering there, Acts
xxvii. 7-21.), aud at present (in the fourth edition, 1780,) I
have no doubt that this Epistle was written long before St. Paul's
voyage as a prisoner to Italy.” Vol. iv. p. 32, Marsh's translation.

Paley, in his Horæ Paulinæ, gives the following hypothetic route, as he terms it, of the apostle's last journey.

“ If we may be allowed to suppose that St. Paul, after his liberation at Rome, sailed into Asia, taking Crete in bis way, and that from Asia and from Ephesus, the capital of that country, be proceeded into Macedonia, and crossing this peninsula, in his progress, came into the neighbourhood of Nicopolis, we have a route which falls in with every thing. It exccutes the intention expressed by the apostle of visiting Colosse (Philemon, VOL. II.

T

Julian Pe- 4. To Titus, mine own son after the common faith : Nicopolis. rjod, 476. Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the

, 53.

Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
ver. 22.) and Philippi (Phil. ii. 24.) as soon as he should be set at
liberty at Rome. It allows him to leave “ Titus at Crete, (Tit.
i. 5.) and Timothy at Ephesus, as he went into Macedonia, (1
Tim. i. 3.) and to write to both not long after, from the Penin-
sula of Grecce, and probably the neighbourhood of Nicopolis,
thus bringing together the dates of these two letters, and there
by accounting for that affinity between them both in subject and
language which our remarks have pointed at.

It is really a pity, says Dr. Halos, that so simple and consis-
tent an hypothesis throughout, “including a great number of
independent circumstances without contradiction,” should be
destitute of solid foundation.

The second Epistle to Timothy (which Paley acknowledges was written during Paul's second imprisonment), in the last chapter, completely overturns his hypothesis.

1. There is no notice taken there of any voyage by sea to Asia ; but not to rest on this negative argument, let us trace the actual route through Corinth, Troas, and Miletus, and probably through Colosso and Philippi.

2. Titus could not, then, be left in Crete, for he was actually in Dalmatia, near Illyricum. (ver. 10.)

3. Timothy was not left at Ephesus, because the apostle did not visit Ephesus; he sailed by it on bis last journey to Jerusa. lem (Acts xx. 16.) though he stopped at Miletus, in its neighbour. bood, and there told the Presbyters of Ephesus, whom he sent for, that they should see his face no more, which afflicted them with great grief. (Acts xx. 17-36). Paley supposes that the apostlesaid this rather despondingly, than by the Spirit (p. 326). But we can see no good reason for the contrary, for what inducement could he have to re-visit a city where he had been already so ill treated and persecuted, only to provoke fresh persecution. When he was forced to quit Ephesus, in the uproar raised by the shrine-makers of Diana, (Acts xix. 25–40.) he seems to have taken a last farewell of them there (åoracáuevos), Acts xx. 1.

Paul, it is true, left Trophimus sick at Miletus, the last time, (ver. 20.) But why should he communicate this intelligence, if Timothy was now at Ephesus, in that neighbourhood, especially as Trophimus was an Ephesian, (Acts xxi. 29.) and must have had intercourse with his friends there. But Timothy was pot at Ephesus, he was rather in the northern part of Asia, in Pontus, perhaps with Aquila and Priscilla, (ver. 19.) who were of that country, (Acts xviii. 21.). And from Pontus, Timothy's route to Corintb, where Paul left Erastus, (2 Tim. iv. 20.) lay directly through Troas, whence he was commissioned to bring with him the letter-case, or trunk, the books, and especially the parchments, which the apostle bad left behind bim there, (2 Tim. V. 13.)

4. Nicopolis, near Actium, was quite out of the route to Rome from Corinth, therefore the Apostle did not visit it, and certainly had not time to winter there on bis last journey.

5. The resemblance between the Epistles to Titus and Timothy, which Paley indeed has ingeniously and skilfully traced, does not require that they should be written about the same time. It may naturally be ascribed to the sameness of their situations and circumstances in the discharge of their respective episcopal functions.

(a) See Dr. Hales's Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii. part ïi. p. 1118.· Elsley, vol. iii. p. 297.--Michaelis, vol. iv. p. 32.- Paley's Horæ Paulinæ, p. 366, 367, &c. &c.

TITUS-CHARACTER OF THE CRETANS-CHAP, XII.

275

Julian Pe.
$ 2. TITUS i. 5-9.

Nicopolis. riod, 4766. Valgar Æra, St. Paul enumerates the necessary Qualifications required of 53.

those whom Titus was appointed to ordain-more espe-
cially as the Teachers were called upon to oppose, and
confute the Judaizing Christians, who were endeavouring
to influence the Gentile Converts.

5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou should-
est set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain
elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot, or unruly.

7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre ;

8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate ;

9 Holding fast the faithful word, as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

§ 3.

TITUS i. 10-16.
St. Paul draws the Character of the Cretans, particularly

the Judaizing Teachers.
10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and
deceivers, specially they of the circumcision :

11 Whose mouths must be stopped ; who subvert
whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for
filthy lucre's sake.

12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply; that they may be sound in the faith,

14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men that turn from the truth.

15 Unto the pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

16 They profess that they know God; but in works
they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and
unto every good work reprobate.

§ 4. TITUSI. 1-8.
St. Paul directs Titus to enforce Christian Virtues, in op-

position to the Vices of the Cretans, and the Rites and
Ceremonies they wished to introduce— Titus is further
commanded to illustrate the Purity of his Doctrine, by
his own personal Example.
1 But speak thou the things which become sound doc-
trine :

§ 5.

Julian Pe. 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound Nicopolis. riod, 4766. in faith, in charity, in patience. Vulgar&ra, 53,

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things ;

4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded :

7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works; in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,

8 Sound speech that cannot be condemned; that he
that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no
evil thing to say of you.

TITUS Ü. 9. to the end.
Titus is directed to exhort Servants to Fidelity, on Christian

Principles-He is reminded that the Christian Religion
is equally binding upon all Ranks and Descriptions of
People, holding forth the same Hope, and requiring the
same Holiness from all.

9 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own mas-
ters, and to please them well in all things ; not answering
again;

10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that' they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world ;

18 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

15 These things speak, and exhort; and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee ".

44 In this Epistle to Titus a complete and perfect rule for the formation and government of Christian Churches is laid dowu. A Christian teacher goes into a country with which he bas no natural alliance, and by authority delegated to him by an inspired apostle, he is appointed to ordain

a class of men for the public service of the Church. “The less is blessed of the greater.” As Titus set apart the elders of the Cretan Churchias, we infer that elders are to be set apart for the service of God in other Churches, and by a similar authority. If Scripture is given to us for use and instruction, we are required to be guided